Autodesk PLM 360 Is Available

Autodesk has announced that its allegedly “insanely configurable” PLM solution called Autodesk PLM 360 is available starting today. It comes with 140 apps (templates) with source code that can used tailor various parts of the PLM system to corresponding business processes.

Autodesk also announced pricing. The price is $75 per user per month on an annual contract basis. For users that need limited access and capabilities the price is $25 per user per month. The best part is that the first three users get full access for free. This includes access to administer and configure the system so that they can determine whether it really works for their company.

This announcement was made by Brenda Discher of Autodesk, who started by saying, “The technology is finally ready to support out vision. We waited to do it our way. The right way.” She introduced Buzz Kross who heads the Manufacturing Solutions Division who listed the complaints the his top 30 customers had with current PLM solutions. He said, “We didn’t go ahead buy exisiting technology that was out there because all of it was too heavy. The cloud came to our rescue.” Attempting to explain how easy Autodesk PLM 360 was to implement he said, “None of our beta customers took more than 3 days to get up to speed with Autodesk PLM 360.”

Autodesk is making a clear distinction between Vault, its PDM offering, and its Autodesk PLM 360, its PLM offering. The PLM system doesn’t need the PDM system, although they are designed to complement each other. Autodesk believes that heavy CAD data doesn’t need to be in the cloud. It’s right place is in an on premise PDM system like Vault. The business processes however is something that can very well be run from the cloud, which is precisely what Autodesk PLM 360 is all about.